“Kinda sorta hate it when finding an ingredient list (like for this tea) is like finding my glasses in a Calgary snowbank. It’s mostly delicious, sweet apricot both in smell and taste –...”
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From American Tea Room

It is a decadent blend of abundant saffron and apricot petals and large Sri Lankan tealeaves. Its apricot aroma is evocative of an exotic evening in Tangier, Morocco. The rich copper brew has intoxicating aromas of stewed apricots, floral intensity and the bold, lemony note of a superlative Ceylon black tea. The favor has abundant floral notes with a seductive apricot body and a citrusy, spicy black tea base. This balanced, smooth blend is supremely drinkable served hot or sweetened and iced.

30 Tasting Notes

heeeey guess what? this is an APRICOT tea. there is no peach here and it makes me super happy. I’ve gotten a little tired of peach teas, so it was nice to have one that was most assuredly “apricot.” I’m hoping that this is as delicious as a cold brew, because then this would be something for me to keep on hand during the summer! That will be up next.

So earlier I thought I’d check out a beer growler store actually in my city because they allow sampling. It wasn’t anything exciting except that I bought a fill of a beer called Golden Monkey. So of course as I’m telling the guy it’s a funny name, he interjects here, and I’m like well because it’s a type of black tea!

I was sad to find out that it has nothing to do with the tea. More that it is golden in color and that apparently after 2 bottles you understand the rest, that is what the company says on their website. It is SO strong so I haven’t had much of it.

So for some reason I found myself wanting something a little spicy but not up to the level of a chai. This was the first thing I found close by that fit the bill. It’s mostly fruity, thanks to the apricot, with spicy notes from the saffron. Given that saffron’s a pretty pricey spice (hahaha) it’s not too strong.

I’m also surprised that this black tea, being a Ceylon (or I would assume a ceylon, given it says Sri Lankan), held up so well to being steeped for four minutes.

I let it cool off and the apricot is more pronounced now. It’s one of the best fruity flavored black teas I’ve probably ever had. It’s also really pretty, speckled with red petals.

ATR’s flavored teas are so good, if I wasn’t trying to now save money because I need to do a summer semester again (so I can graduate next fall FINALLY) I would be so into this one, but it’ll have to wait until 2014. Cries.

hey, WOW! first off, thanks to ifjuly for the ninja tea delivery today! it was totally unexpected and wound up being very funny…. ifjuly, in an effort to protect the tea from the elements and ghastly weather, taped everything up to a point where my wrecked hand just wouldn’t do it, lmao!!! i wound up shredding the packaging because i wanted to know what was in there!!!!

the brilliant ifjuly taught me something new about my personal preferences (not something easily fit inside a parcel!) apricot in a tea is fine by me, but peach tends to come off as annoying! NOTE TO SELF!!!!!

the dry blend is bright and colourful. it has a lovely deep smell of dry stewed apricots. i’ve never had saffron, so i can’t say how it affects the blend, but there is an element in this tea that is unfamiliar but not unpleasant.

light, sweet, smooth, deeply apricot….. i haven’t had an abundance of good experiences with american tea room— this improves my opinion!!

thank you so much, ifjuly!

Preparation

glad you like it! sorry for my HULKTAPE approach to that weirdly shaped box, ha. and i agree; i’ve had some decent peach teas (i’m a big fan of lupicia’s momo oolong supergrade) but i definitely prefer apricot in tea. IIRC Sil likes it too.

Kinda sorta hate it when finding an ingredient list (like for this tea) is like finding my glasses in a Calgary snowbank. It’s mostly delicious, sweet apricot both in smell and taste – a wonderful twist and great surprise. It it however getting a bit dry and tart as it cools, in a not-so-hot way.

Preparation

Sipdown…I almost saved this last bit for a cold brew, over the summer, but I opted to sipdown tonight instead.

It’s pretty tasty. That nice peachy apricot doesn’t seem too artificial, and the base is not too smoky or astringent either, so it is quite a pleasant steep. If I do get more of this, I am quite keen still, to see how it is cold steeped.

Thanks to Sil for some of this lovely tea. I quite enjoyed it; nothing special but quite a good example of a basic peachy black. Or at least, peach was the fruity flavour I was getting from it. Anyhow, fairly mild black base, no astringency, and nice juicy flavour. I bet this would make a tasty unsweetened iced tea.

ETA: Apricot, I see. That makes sense. I often confuse the two flavours! That might also explain why I found it tastier than peach teas I’ve tried.

definitely stewed apricots yum.
i have plans to go running tomorrow. haven’t run in weeks so it’s gonna be interesting.
i also have a massage scheduled for breakfast hah
now i will embarrass my sister and ask you all to friend her!
cuz i’d love to see her on steepster more http://steepster.com/oddree/

Preparation

This is a nice and warm black tea blend. The apricot is muted by the other flavorings so that it is not overly sweet, fruity, or tart. Although saffron is identified as a flavoring, I did not detect any saffron at all. Oddly, this blend just feels comforting and luxurious (as some other Steepster-ite) noted and it is hard to pinpoint what this tastes like.